Female filmgoers magic for ‘Mike’

Pic opens to $39 million; 'Ted' bears $54 million

U.S. moviegoers left the kids at home and embraced a pair of R-rated comedies over the June 29-July 1 frame: “Ted” and “Magic Mike.”

Universal’s “Ted” grossed a stellar $54.4 million, while Warner Bros.’ “Magic Mike” impressed with $39.1 million. Male stripper pic “Mike” was able to outperform its most optimistic expectations, which had had it earning somewhere in the mid-$20 million range.

The pic, which stars Channing Tatum as a stripper and aspiring entrepreneur, already is sitting pretty financially, costing just $6.5 million to make, and having been acquired by Warners for $7 million.

“Ted,” meanwhile, cost $50 million-plus to produce. The film earned a big portion of its weekend gross from couples, with a 56%-44% male-female split. The U pic also managed to attract a significant 48% of its audience from the under-30 crowd.

Both pics looked to benefit from heightened theater traffic over the July 4 frame, though the holiday itself isn’t considered exceptional for adult-skewing films.

“Ted” grossed $8 million July 4, compared with $3 million for “Magic Mike.” The pair had to compete with Sony tentpole “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which scored the second-best-ever July 4 gross — $23.4 million, behind only 2007’s “Transformers” ($29.1 million).